Saturday, 12 March 2016

Afternoon Tea At The Leonard Hotel

As you may have seen already in my Mother's day vlog we surprised my mum to afternoon tea at the Leonard Hotel. Thought I would also write up a whole review of the experience incase you were considering going or wanted to know what to expect.

Just off Seymour Street we made it to our final destination with the anticipation radiating of my mum. Once she realised what we were doing she burst in to tears as she was so pleased at what we had organised, so the surprise turned out to be a good choice. After being greeted by members of staff I could spot her continuing to smile for the rest of the day just feeling overwhelmed with joy, that feeling alone was enough to make the rest of us happy that we had been able to treat her to something truly special. We found it very easily and luckily were able to sit by the fire, ideal when you make a silly shoe decision (sandals in this weather Aine, really?!). The surroundings complimented my parent's taste beautifully enabling us to relax into the environment and be fully invested in the fine dining experience.

As we settled our glasses of sparkling champagne arrived, which tasted amazing. Another surprise considering I'm not normally a massive champagne person but this one I could drink with ease, it's sweeter than most I have tried. Shortly after they placed an aray of cakes, scones, sandwiches and more on the classic tiered stand on our table. From experience I would have a light breakfast as this is often a lot more filing than you think and it allows you to fully enjoy the variety provided.

The scones were the perfect temperature, the clotted cream and homemade raspberry jam applied smoothly and the strawberries were a nice finishing touch. I also love the small bites, my favourite being the lemon tart, completely bias though as lemon has to be my favourite flavour by far. Not only that but there was also an extensive range of teas available, my sister and I opted for peppermint whereas my parents chose earl grey. It was honestly a lovely meal for all of us and the staff were very attentive to all of our requirements.

Even with our hardest attempt we were unable to finish everything but they were kind enough to package it for us to take away. Then you can continue to enjoy whats left at home when you have a bit more space in your stomach - yay!